PLEASE NOTE.....GO VOTE!!!!!!!!!

Child, my girl Tiff sent me this video and had me just boo-hoo-ing over here. This is so touching and important for everyone - blacks, whites, gays, Latinos, women, Jews and anyone else that at some point felt the sting of discrimination. This is also important for those people who realize that discrimination has no boundaries and that today, it may be gays, but tomorrow it may be blacks and next week it may be all people with freckles. Let it happen to one group and guaranteed your group will get it's go at some point.

Voting is not just to elect a person to office, it is the validation for the lives, the blood, the broken limbs and the pride of all those people who marched, sat in, were mobbed and lynched, ridiculed and belittled. It is for the little black girls desegregating a school for the first time to the taunts and jeers of hateful onlookers and classmates. It is for Dr. King who sacrificed his life for the equality of EVERYONE. It is for the white college girl who sat at the lunch counter with her black friends and was called a nigger lover while having food poured all over her. It is for the middle aged, Jewish house wife who helped support the NAACP with her donations. It is for Rosa Parks for refusing to get up - child, she was tired - tired from work and tired of being viewed as less than. Our going to the ballot box affirms the sacrifices and hopes of all these people.

GO VOTE!!!

GO BARACK!!!

JUST ADORABLE

How cute?!!?!!? This reminds me so much of one of my closest friends.....TIFF!!!!!!

CHECK IN TIME

My computer, ole' Betsey, has to go check into the hospital for a little nip and tuck. She has served me well and deserves a little pampering. We will update occasionally while she is away, but hope to be back in full swing upon her return in about a week or so. Wish her luck!!!

WHEN I THINK OF HOME........

Off to Detroit (THE D) this weekend. The land of hair, cars, music, buffet restaurants, loud people, confrontational people, down home people, cheap property, mega churches, 'gator shoes, 'pretty' men and Anita Baker.

SANG GIRL!!!

Growing up in Detroit, Michigan, one cannot help but be exposed to gospel music. I grew up to the sounds of The Winans, The Clark Sisters, Mattie Moss Clark, Thomas Whitfield and many other greats. Detroit is as known for gospel music as it is for hair, cars and Motown. But one of my absolute favorite gospel singers is from the other music capitol, Atlanta. Miss LaShun Pace - gospel music diva extraordinaire. Her voice reflects all the emotion that I feel. Here she is with a little advice that definitely works:

IF THE SHOE FITS...

JUST SUPER

Simply gorgeous - one of my all time favorite songs. It is at once haunting, brooding, hopeful, desperate, innocent, naive.....

Sung by one of the most beautiful voices ever recorded - Karen Carpenter. Her voice can be described in many ways, but my favorites are heavenly, pure, sincere....her voice touches me so deeply that the sound of it brings tears to my eyes. From the first line - LONG AGO AND OH SO FAR AWAY....I am a captive audience and an emotional fool. Get out the hankies:

Very few artists today could pull off the starkness of the set, the simplicity and cleanliness of the melody, the depth of the lyrics or even the innocence of her divine peasant dress. Her talent spoke for itself - no need for bells and whistles, exploding cannons or interpretive dancers. There was no room for dramatics because her voice and the lovely music filled the stage......and my heart.

OH MIGHTY ISIS

WHO'S THAT GIRL???

Who is this face diva from Italian Bazaar, October 1981???????????

HERE'S TO ADDISON....

In honor of style maverick, idea man & shade meister, Addison DeWitt, here's more of the genius, Calvin Klein.

The icon himself - no doubt contemplating his design philosophy and his wealth.
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Iman - serving poses like nobody's damn business. She is giving you clean lines, shape, movement, composition, emotion and luxury, all in the name of CALVIN.
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The image that rocked the nation, starring Brooke (no panty wearing) Shields.
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Calvin giving me Middle East, Far East and Upper East Side all wrapped up into one. Calvin rarely did 'ethnic', but when he did, it was rich, clean and modern. I am living for this campaign from Fall 1981.
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More Brooke. As a kid, these knocked my socks off!!!!

THE OTHER PATTI

Patti serving the fiercest 'snatch-back' hairdo, ever in recorded history
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Classic 80's Patti - big hair, full figure and a bright smile
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Anyone who knows me knows that I am a HUGE Patti LaBelle fan. But I have been two-timing Ms. LaBelle with the other Patti, Ms. Patti Austin.

Ms. Austin has one of the cleanest, prettiest and smoothest voices around. She has been extremely overlooked for so long but maintains a big following with her live performances all over the world - from concerts to festivals and TV appearances. Here's one of my faves by her:


This is easily one of the best duets from the 80's - BABY, COME TO ME - sung with the incomparable James Ingram. Both singers were proteges of the genius himself, Mr. Quincy
Jones. Talk about making beautiful music together!!! Check out THE DUDE by Quincy Jones - brilliant CD from start to finish.

Well, Patti has undergone a bit of a transformation. Long gone is the plus size Patti. I got the following in the mail yesterday and said, damn, who is that lady, she's kinda serving (in an old school sorta way). Low and behold...Patti Austin.

Here are some more pics of the new Patti serving svelte figure, sleek hair and that radiant, beautiful face she has always had. One word - WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NEW LOVE, BABY - JODY WATLEY

Jody poured into a Patrick Kelly mermaid gown...

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...rocking marabou, over-the-knee boots and a major 'do.
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and channeling classic Hollywood glamour
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There are very few women who I consider true style icons. The style of today's stars is generally very manufactured and forced. Women like Diana Ross, Sophia Loren, Nan Kempner and Jackie Kennedy are few and far between when it comes to a demonstrative display of individuality and consistent creativity. What appeals to me most is a person with innate, natural sense of style and creativity - not a 'style personality' created by a hired stylist. A true beauty and true style icon that has inspired me greatly with her fearlessness, edginess, beauty and ability to incorporate high fashion into music is the amazing JODY WATLEY. Yes, she of the almond eyes, lush lips and the ONLY cheekbones.

Jody with Shalamar working a cheetah mini-boot
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As a kid, every Saturday morning consisted of a big bowl of cereal, cartoons, American Bandstand and the brilliant SOUL TRAIN. In addition to the new dances and music and being able to see my favorite singers, I would lay in wait to see two of my favorite TV performers - Jody Watley and Jeffrey Daniels. They started out as mere teen dancers on the show, but because of their exotic good looks, untouchable dance moves and the creativity that they incorporated in every performance, they hit the big time when they were hired as singers in SHALAMAR, one of the best R&B groups of the late 70's/early 80's. Shalamar went on to great success with some of the funkiest music, brilliant choreography and fierce hair and wardrobes. Jody became the breakout star eventually winning a BEST NEW ARTIST GRAMMY.

Jody's biggest impact on me was her image - she seamlessly intertwined southern California club style, NY edginess and high fashion straight off the runways. She was a staunch advocate for beautiful photography, consistently working with the world's best including Steven Meisel and Patrick Demarchelier. Jody was a true style maven, consistently donning Patrick Kelly, Gaultier and Azzedine Alaia. And she had a hair wardrobe to match - moving from long curly weaves to knee length pony tails to short pixies and overblown afros. Her style mix ways a treat for the eyes.

One of the best of the 80's - BRILLIANT!!!

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Funny enough, Solange Knowles is making her stamp on the music world now, and it is NOT big sis Beyonce that I see shades of in her work - I am seeing a bit of Ms. Watley in her work - the look, the wardrobe and the off-beat sensibility. Work Solange - I am loving it!!!

INSPIRATION???????

Sarah Palin. She doesn't even warrant a pic here - I won't waste the bandwidth. I watched her on TV last night and she only inspired me to do the following:

Her whining, cynical, overly sarcastic, nasal voice droned on for far too long covering nothing more than a sound bite that she had memorized within the previous day or so. This is a woman who hardly knew McCain before he asked her to be his VP. This is a woman, who on record, has mocked the position of VP (as did McCain). She spoke little or nothing about any of the actual policies that they will implement. She mocked Obama's community and grassroot's activism like it was a joke. Shame. She as a woman should know that the civil rights, women's rights and gay rights movements all started on a community based level with local leaders hoeing the hard rows. Oh yeah, she is for limited women's rights and virtually no gay rights, how could I forget. She harped on McCain's POW status for the umpteenth time, but never spoke about the economy. Get real, girl.

She sounded like a character on Politically Incorrect or like Tina Fey playing Sarah Palin on SNL. I cannot take her seriously. Between her 'message', that voice and that dreadful hairdo, it was a real feat to keep down my dinner. And then to top it all off, they had the nerve to trot out the pregnant daughter and her reluctant baby daddy who chewed gum the entire time. She is the embodiment of what the Republicans feel about Americans - she is a political stunt meant to manipulate and patronize. Never mind her skeletons (which highlight her considerable lack of judgement) and her inexperience (for which they hypocritically mock Obama for). With McCain's age and health being questioned, and rightly so, this joke of a VP would actually have a very good chance of being the leader of the free world. SCARY!!!!! If you people fall for this farce, SHAME ON YOU, SHAME ON AMERICA!!!!

The Republican party has put the American economy and America's long fought reputation in the TOILET and then have the audacity to never mention it. They mock us and take us for fools with their feigned goodwill and lack of concern for the average Joe. We have had 8 years of the rich getting richer, the middle class getting poorer and the poor getting threadbare. We have had far too many years of warmongering, slain troops, slain innocents in war zones and fat contracts for Bush/Cheney cronies.

How do we end it...........this is how:

OBAMA - BIDEN 08

GISELE EXTRAVAGANZA

Legendary Gisele - Face, runway and style diva.

DIVA FEVER - LATEX BALL 2008

It's the battle of the black runway divas!!!!! Baby Chanel Iman versus Baby Naomi. Who walked? Who served? Who ate up the runway with a fierce stomp, photogenic poses and pure diva attitude?

Looks like new kid on the block Chanel took this one!!!